Some of the most curious fungi appear in fall.<\/p>\n
With names like stink horns, puffballs, bird\u2019s nests, and even Jack-o\u2019-lanterns, all are interesting.<\/p>\n
A warm and wet autumn is the ideal time for fungus to appear.<\/p>\n
This natural occurrence may seem unsettling.<\/p>\n
Many people notice mushrooms popping up in lawns and landscapes.<\/p>\n
When mushrooms, also known as toadstools, appear in a circle or arc, it is commonly called a fairy ring.<\/p>\n
According to folklore, this is where fairies danced in a circle.<\/p>\n
Often there is a slight discoloration of the turf grass near the fairy rings.<\/p>\n
Over the years, the rings of toadstools widen and may overlap.<\/p>\n
Puffballs start small, perhaps the size of a marble and can become as large as a softball or basketball, depending on the species.<\/p>\n
The giant puffball can reach the size of a bushel basket.<\/p>\n
Unlike mushrooms, puffballs may have a short, wide stalk.<\/p>\n
If you step on them, you might see the plume of brown spore-filled \u201csmoke\u201d puff into the air, helping establish the next generation of puffballs.<\/p>\n
Bird\u2019s nest fungi resemble miniature birds\u2019 nests with tiny eggs.<\/p>\n
A large nest might be one-half inch in diameter.<\/p>\n
These are common in wood mulch.<\/p>\n
No stalks grow on these fungi.<\/p>\n
The spores are released from the mature \u201ceggs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stink horns emerge from witch\u2019s eggs, the immature, underground egg stage of the stink horn, especially in mulched landscape beds.<\/p>\n
The half-buried, elongated ping-pong balls open to release orange-red finger-like stalks that are four to six inches tall.<\/p>\n
The stalks are topped with narrow caps of brownish-green slime.<\/p>\n
The caps smell awful.<\/p>\n
This putrid smell attracts flies that land and then carry off spores to germinate in other locations.<\/p>\n
Stink horns are very short-lived.<\/p>\n
Within a day or two, they collapse and vanish entirely in a week.<\/p>\n
The Jack-o\u2019-lanterns are among the most exciting mushrooms.<\/p>\n
These pumpkin-colored beauties grow at the base of stumps or living oak trees.<\/p>\n
Each cluster may contain 15 to 20 mushrooms with caps up to four inches in diameter.<\/p>\n
These fungi are all saprophytes.<\/p>\n
They break down organic matter to absorb nutrients from it.<\/p>\n
They do not cause disease in live plants, so there is no danger to your lawn or landscape plants.<\/p>\n
No treatment or fungicide will manage saprophytes in your lawn or garden.<\/p>\n
Herbicides (weed killers) don\u2019t work on fungi.<\/p>\n
Fungicides do not manage these saprophytes.<\/p>\n
Fungicides prevent disease-causing fungal spores from establishing on a green plant\u2019s living tissue.<\/p>\n
Fungi are natural recyclers of decaying wood and organic matter in the soil.<\/p>\n
They are part of the clean-up crew in our environment.<\/p>\n
The main portion of a saprophytic fungus remains underground.<\/p>\n
The mycelium is made of delicate, white, hair-like structures that spread extensively throughout the organic matter or soil.<\/p>\n
The part that we see is called the fruiting body.<\/p>\n
It appears above the surface to distribute spores.<\/p>\n
If you are concerned about their presence, the best strategy is to remove the fruiting body with a gloved hand or a trowel and drop it into the trash as soon as it appears.<\/p>\n
Teach children that mushrooms are interesting and fun to look at, but they should never be touched or eaten unless they come from the grocery store.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing Green\u201d is contributed by Lehigh County Extension Office Staff and Master Gardeners. Information: Lehigh County Extension Office, 610-391-9840; Northampton County Extension Office, 610-813-6613<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some of the most curious fungi appear in fall. With names like stink horns, puffballs, bird\u2019s nests, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-308640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}